


Everybody Loves the Mothman

by BoldlyGone1



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: A bit meta, Crying, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Oneshot, TAZ Amnesty, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoldlyGone1/pseuds/BoldlyGone1
Summary: "People, like, make posts about funny stuff or stuff that they like, and then share them with other people? And one of the things they talk about is...well....you.”Aubrey introduces Indrid to Tumblr. Things get a lot more emotional than either of them expected.





	Everybody Loves the Mothman

**Author's Note:**

> We're going to pretend they can have WiFi hotspots in the Radio Quiet Zone because I liked this idea too much.

                 Indrid smiled as he opened the door of his Winnebago. The smile came with a mixture of exasperation and amusement as he said, “Good afternoon, Aubrey. No, you can’t have my glasses.”

                “Aww!” Aubrey Little made a face, then grinned back at him. “Can we at least come inside? We’re freezing our butts off.”

                _We_ , he surmised, meant her and the oversized rabbit in her arms. Slightly bemused, Indrid ushered his guest – _guests_ – inside and cleared off a space on the couch. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

                “Can’t you tell me?” **  
** “You’re here to show me something,” Indrid admitted, “but beyond that I’m not quite sure.” He’d gotten a vision that morning of blue and white and Aubrey laughing, but there had been no other context. He was intrigued in spite of himself, and hoped that the laughter was a good sign as to the outcome.

                “First things first: this is Dr. Harris Bonkers, PhD.” Aubrey lifted the rabbit’s paw to make him wave.

                “Welcome, Dr. Bonkers,” Indrid said, knowing Aubrey would be annoyed if he didn’t. Now that he was starting to have some regular guests, conflicting though his feelings may be, he found himself reluctant to drive them away. “Would either of you like some eggnog? Do rabbits drink eggnog?”

                “Uh, I think we’re both good, thanks.” Aubrey deposited Dr. Bonkers gently on the floor and pulled out her cellphone. “So,” she said in a getting-down-to-business sort of way, “Since you don’t have, like, a TV or a computer or anything, I’m guessing you don’t get a WiFi signal in here?”

                Indrid frowned. “A what?”

                “That’s what I thought.” Aubrey gestured for him to sit next to her. He did so hesitantly and watched as she began tapping icons on her phone. “It’s a way to get on the internet. Wait, do you –“

                “I have a general awareness of it.”

                “Okay, good! Because I don’t know how I was going to explain the entire internet.” Aubrey typed something into her phone. “But anyway, there’s this website called Tumblr, and people, like, make posts about funny stuff or stuff that they like, and then share them with other people? And one of the things they talk about is...well....you.”

                Indrid blinked at her, feeling unease creep into his stomach. Dr. Bonkers nibbled gently at his sock. “What do you mean?”

                Aubrey sprouted a flame in her fingers and quickly extinguished it. “Well, people know about the Mothman, right? I know you don’t like to be called that, sorry, but that’s what they call you.” She created and doused another flame, looking uncomfortable. “And Duck told me that you feel really guilty about – about the Silver Bridge thing, and you kind of think, like, everybody hates you because of it? And so I wanted to show you what people on the internet actually think.”

                Indrid stood up. “I don’t think I want to see this.”

                “Please!” Aubrey’s whole hand burst into flame, and she put it out quickly before patting the couch. “Just trust me?”

                Indrid bit his lip. The vision hadn’t seemed like a bad one. Against his better judgement, he sat down and peered at Aubrey’s phone. Over the top of his red lenses he could see that her screen was blue with long white rectangles, and he took a breath. This was it.

                “Okay, so.” Aubrey pulled up an image. “A lot of people like to draw pictures of you. Here, you can scroll down.” She handed Indrid the phone, and he stared at the screen in bewilderment. It was indeed meant to be a drawing of him in his natural form. It wasn’t entirely accurate, of course, but it was...

                It was _cute._ He was all fur and soft edges and big glistening eyes, and it reminded him of the children’s toys and cartoons that he sometimes saw in magazines. He touched a trembling finger to the screen and managed to “scroll” farther down to reveal more pictures, some less cartoonish, some more animalistic or more anthropomorphic, but all of them seeming to depict him in a cute, playful way. Sometimes he was wearing an accessory or cuddling up to a lamp – one artist had even wrapped him in Christmas lights.

                Indrid’s hands shook so much he almost dropped the phone, and Aubrey rescued it from his faltering grip. “Are you okay?” She peered at him in concern, fire flickering at the tips of her fingers. “Oh, I knew this was a bad idea – ”

                “Why?” His voice was hoarse, and when she gave him a confused look, he cleared his throat and tried again. “Why do they do this? Make me – appealing?”

                Aubrey bit her lip. “I guess it’s like, humans are really interested in the supernatural, especially younger humans, and when we’re interested in something we want to sort of project onto it and make it humanlike and we get all affectionate and stuff? I mean, yeah, some people are really into monsters being, uh, monster-y and scary and all that, but a lot of people....I guess just think it would be cool to have a monster friend. Not that you’re a monster! That’s just, you know....”

                Indrid ran his hands through his hair, focusing on the sensation in an attempt to ground himself. There were humans that wanted to be friends with – with beings like him?

                Aubrey was still talking. “Some people joke about wanting to date you ’cause they think it’d be cute to have a fuzzy moth boyfriend, I hope that’s not weird, and wanting to give you lamps – wait, is that, like, racist? I don’t mean to stereotype – ”

                “Aubrey.” Indrid took in a slow breath, staring at his shabby carpet. “I...I am a monster. These people....they don’t know what I did. Or what I didn’t do.”

                He almost jumped at the gentle hand on his shoulder. When was the last time someone had touched him? “They do know.” She tried to hand him the phone again, but he turned away. Undeterred, she continued: “A whole lot of people figure that you were trying to warn everyone away from the bridge. They make posts sometimes about how you were just trying to help. They feel bad for you – I mean, not to drag you into a pity party or anything, but they...they have sympathy for you.” She squeezed his hand. “They know it’s not your fault that people didn’t listen. They know you tried your best.”

                Indrid kept looking at the floor. Dr. Bonkers put a paw on his foot. He took a slow breath. “They know, and they still – ?”

                “We still want you to be our moth friend.”

                Something wet was running down Indrid’s face. He raised a hand to wipe it away, and Aubrey said, “Shit!” A moment later, a very large rabbit was deposited into Indrid’s lap. And then Aubrey was hugging him. Awkwardly, from the side and around a whole lot of rabbit, but hugging him.

                He’d forgotten what that felt like.

                Neither Aubrey nor Dr. Bonkers seemed to mind that it took a while before he was able to get his breath back and fumble for a box of tissues, which he finally found under a pile of newspapers.

                “You good?” Aubrey asked worriedly, watching him wipe his face and get out a carton of eggnog.

                “I’m....yes.” Indrid filled a glass and put his hands on the counter. They were finally steady. “I think I’m...better than I’ve been in a while, actually.” He took a deep breath and a swig of nog and returned to sit back on the couch, embarrassed. “I apologize for that....little breakdown, there, I – I’m not – I never – ”

                Aubrey waved his apologies away. “Don’t worry about it. I guess I kinda laid some heavy stuff on you, huh?” Now she looked embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to come here and make you cry but it seemed like it was cathartic or something, so...yay?”

                “Yes, I suppose it was.” Indrid chuckled and stroked Dr. Bonkers. “Thank you, Aubrey. And your furry associate, of course.”

                “No problem! That’s what friends are for.”

                _Friends._ Silence fell for a moment, and then Indrid said hesitantly, “Do you think we could – look at some more of those drawings?”

                “Oh, sure!” Aubrey pulled out her phone again and began scrolling through the images. “Oh, I like that one, someone designed a character of you for a game – and in a podcast, that’s like a radio show – ”

                “There I am with some pumpkins, I suppose that’s for Halloween. And dancing with Barclay – or Bigfoot, rather.” Indrid blinked as the next drawing came up. “’The moth booty?’ And is – is that – !”

                Aubrey squeaked and covered the screen. “Uh, remember when I said people want to date you? Uh, sometimes they draw things that are, uh – ”

                “That is not what my – that is _not_ what I look like!”

                Aubrey dissolved into giggles, and despite his blush Indrid couldn’t help but smile as he felt his vision being fulfilled.

                It really hadn’t been such a bad one after all.


End file.
